As we celebrate today's Eucharist, we are invited to reflect on our own
faith. Far too often there can be a sense that we must somehow make
ourselves better in order for God to love us. Today's scriptures tell us
that instead of us making ourselves better, our task is to believe. When
we believe, God transforms us. It is not by our deeds or actions or good
works that we are saved, but by believing in Jesus Christ as Lord.

The first reading, from the Second Book of Samuel, tells us the story of
King David, who is one of the great people of faith in the Hebrew
Scriptures. He is also an incredible sinner. Yet he always trusts in
God's mercy and forgiveness and truly repents of his sins. King David is a
full human being, with lots of desires and lusts and incredibly energy to
serve the Lord. His love for God does not stop him from sinning but when
he recognizes that he has sinned, he repents with all his heart.

King David is a wonderful example for all of us. He shows what it is to
live fully, to love and to desire - and in all of that to seek God as his
highest good. Sometimes we hardly do anything because we fear to sin. We
don't live strongly because we don't want to make mistakes. We don't
repent much because we imagine ourselves doing much. Instead, God invites
us today to live with all our heart, all our strength and all our being.
When we make mistakes or when we sin, we should sin strongly - using the
phrasing of Saint Augustine! By living strongly, we can seek God strongly
and repent strongly when we sin.

The Gospel has the same lesson, now told from the point of view of a woman
who recognizes that she has sinned and is not at all ashamed to repent in
front of everyone. This is a woman who is living fully and completely and
is not afraid of living nor of repenting. She is another incredible
example to all of us of how to live the mystery of our faith.

We can take the words of the Letter to the Galatians as a model: I live
by faith in the Son of God who has loved me and given himself up for me.
The more I recognize that I am loved, the more I can live from that love
with complete trust and confidence in the Lord.

May each of us today take the risk of living fully and strongly. We will
make mistakes and we will sin, but we trust completely in the Lord Jesus
Christ. It is not as though we are looking to sin or that we are looking
to make mistakes. On the contrary, we strive to live to the best of our
ability. Yet only with God's love do we have strength. Only knowing God's
acceptance can we strive to live with depth and profundity.

God saves us. God loves us. God invites us to eternal life. Let us live
and walk in the way of the Lord.